Education, healthcare focus of Backseat Budgeter event

Callie Jones Journal-Advocate staff writer

Posted:
07/29/2012 04:54:01 PM MDT

Panel members at a Backseat Budgeter event last week included, from left: Delinda Korrey, from the South Platte Sentinel; Senator Greg Brophy; Ron Marostica, assistant superintendent of RE-1 Valley School District; John Gardner, CEO of Yuma Hospital and chairman-elect of the Colorado Hospital Association Board of Trustees; Kim Sellers, executive director of the Logan County Chamber of Commerce; and Tony Frank, president of Colorado State University. (Callie Jones/Journal-Advocate)

STERLING — Colorado State University President Tony Frank was in Sterling last week, part of his tour of the state, to discuss the state of the school, as well as issues concerning higher education.

CSU alumni, students, parents and others were invited to a reception at Plainsman Grill Friday evening, where Frank spoke about the school's past, present and future. Earlier in the day he was part of a panel at a Backseat Budgeter event at CSU Regional Engagement Center.

Other panel members included: Senator Greg Brophy; Kim Sellers, executive director of the Logan County Chamber of Commerce; Ron Marostica, assistant superintendent of RE-1 Valley School District; John Gardner, CEO of Yuma Hospital and chairman-elect of the Colorado Hospital Association Board of Trustees; and Delina Korrey, of the South Platte Sentinel.

Brenda Morrison, managing editor of Engaged Public, served as the moderator.

Backseat Budgeter, developed CSU's Office of Engagement in 2007, is an interactive budget simulation tool that enables users to learn about the state's budget and make decisions about how and where public dollars should be spent.

Much of Friday's presentation focused on education and healthcare.

Approximately $4,816,800,800 or 63.13 percent of the state's budget is spent on K-12 education and healthcare. While only $619,600,000 or 8.12 percent is spent on higher education.

The continuing rise in tuition cost is one of the biggest problems facing higher education.

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However, Frank pointed that it costs exactly the same to educate a student today as it did 20 years ago. The difference is 20 years ago the majority of funding came from the state, but today 71 percent of the cost of educating a student is tuition.

“We are and we have been for several decades, on a path, and this isn't just Colorado it's a national trend, of privatizing America's system of public education,” Frank said.

Colorado State University President Tony Frank (right) talks with Randy Buhler following a Backseat Budgeter event at the CSU regional Engagement Center. Frank, who was a panel member at the event, also spoke about the state of the university at a public reception at Plainsman Grill. (Callie Jones/Journal-Advocate)

He noted that Colorado Futures projects that between 2017 and 2025 higher education will be 100 percent tuition supported.

Brophy said it could happen even sooner than 2017, the next time there is a recession, which he believes will be soon and he pointed out that if state funding is taken away community colleges like Northeastern Junior College might not be able to stay open.

“My main argument to everyone is, let's have a conversation,” Frank said. “We don't need have it someday because this isn't coming in our kids lifetimes, it's not coming somewhere down the road, it's coming in the next decade or so.”

K-12 is also facing funding issues. In the past local property taxes have paid for the majority of a school district, now the majority of funding comes from the state.

Marostica pointed out that state budget cuts have forced RE-1 to look at program and staff reductions. They're lucky in that they have a mill levy override that allows the district to maintain its buildings, keep technology up-to-date, provide transportation and buy textbooks.

“That has been a huge plus for us, but that still doesn't protect us from those cuts that have to happen to keep our budget balanced,” he said.

Brophy pointed out that K-12 education, higher education, and healthcare have inflation rates that exceed the inflation rate for the economy by a factor of three.

“In the last 30 years, tuition for the two major public schools in Colorado has increased at a rate of inflation three times the rate of inflation for the rest of the economy,” he said. “That's unsustainable; you cannot continue to have tuition costs exceeding the inflation rate for the rest of the economy by a factor of three for much longer.”

“We're at the breaking point. We're going to have to collectively figure out how to get over this hump.”

In taking about healthcare, Gardner pointed out that there has been a huge growth in Medicaid. Northeast Colorado hasn't experience as much growth as urban areas have, but there has still been growth.

Brophy suggested instead of eliminating prescription drugs for Medicaid recipients, one of the options on Backseat Budgeter, ask them to pay for a portion of their prescription drugs.

There was also discussion about more people choosing to go to the emergency room instead of a clinic because Medicaid recipients don't have to pay co-pay for emergency room visits.

“In the big picture, we have a problem,” Brophy said. “Politicians have made promises to spend money for which there is no way possible to raise the revenue.”

“We have created this Medicaid program that we can't possible fund. We have created expectations for spending in education that we can't possibly fund at the state level when we have a balanced budget requirement.”

He warned that there need to be changes or the U.S could find itself in the same situation as Greece and Spain, “looking for someone to bail us out, but there isn't anybody in the world big enough to bail out the United States of America.”

Frank ended the meeting noting this year is the anniversary of Abraham Lincoln signing the Morrill Act, which created land-grant universities, including CSU.

“At a time when a college education was only for the elite, this remarkable piece of legislation ensured that every American with talent motivation to earn a degree should have that opportunity,” Frank said in an essay celebrating the anniversary.

“America's got a great track record of getting things right far more often then wrong when we talk about topics,” he said. “As a university we have an absolute commitment to getting people talking about topics and in productive ways, so we're not talking past each other, but we're really taking each others ideas and turning them over, looking at them critically and evaluating them.”

“That's why we're a fan of the Backseat Budgeter. It starts a good conversation.”

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